Gambling ads may increase following budget call on bookmaker tax

There are renewed fears Victorians will be deluged with more betting advertising after the Victorian government failed to follow the lead of other states and introduce a point of consumption tax on online wagering.

South Australia has already introduced the tax at 15 per cent and Western Australia’s regime is set to commence in 2019. The Queensland government will also introduce a point of consumption tax after making it an election promise, while the NSW government has released a discussion paper on the issue.

Victorian customers would be more profitable to bookmakers if the tax is not introduced, making it likely they will focus their customer acquisition activity in this state.

Unlike other gambling operations such as casinos, gaming venues and the TAB can place substantial tax on gambling, online bookmakers licensed in the Northern Territory are the lowest-taxed gambling providers in the country.

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After referencing the point of consumption tax in last year’s budget, the Victorian government did not include any detail in this year’s budget.

The point of consumption tax sees governments receive tax from wagers placed by punters in their state, no matter where the betting operator is licensed. So, if you're punting with an NT-based online bookmaker on the cricket on your mobile phone in Geelong, the bookie you bet with will pay wagering tax to the Victorian government.

The lack of detail prompted the Alliance for Gambling Reform to question whether the Labor government has capitulated to lobbying by former Labor senator Stephen Conroy. Conroy heads the online bookmaker lobby group, Responsible Wagering Australia.

“It is scandalous that the 24 licensed bookmakers and betting exchanges in the Northern Territory were only budgeted to pay a miserly $5.4 million in taxes to Territorians in 2017-18 when Australians are losing close to $2 billion a year gambling with these companies,” Alliance spokesman Tim Costello said.

“The foreign bookies have been deluging our kids with ads because the super profits from the failure to tax them has attracted a flood of new competition fighting for market share in the lucrative online market.

“These foreign companies should give a bit back to the Australian community and their lobbyist, former senator Stephen Conroy, should stop trying to pressure various state and territory governments to delay and minimise the tax,” he said.

Responsible Wagering Australia were contacted for comment but declined.

If implemented, the tax would be expected to generate $150 million a year in Victoria.

A recent survey by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation found seven in ten people think adolescents see and hear too much gambling advertising.